We asked U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Republican challenger Monica Wehby eachto highlight seven key votes in the Senate over the past six years. Perhaps not surprisingly, they came up with completely different votes. We'll run their 14 choices this month, along with an explanation of where each stands.

Today's vote was chosen by Merkley.

Senate filibusters: On Nov. 21, 2013, the Senate voted to change its rules to prohibit filibusters on most presidential nominees. That means they can be confirmed by a simple majority instead of a three-fifths vote, as is required to overcome a filibuster. The vote was 52-48.

Merkley's vote: Yes

Wehby: Would have voted no

What Merkley says:

In the summer of 1976, I interned for Republican Sen. Mark Hatfield. In those times, the Senate introduced bills, amended them and voted on final passage by simple majority. The filibuster was rarely used.

The rules

We asked Jeff Merkley to list seven votes he's taken during his six years in the U.S. Senate that are important or illustrate why he should be re-elected, and we asked Monica Wehby to list seven votes that demonstrate why she would do a better job.

We then swapped lists, with each critiquing the other's choices in 300 words or fewer. Links to supporting material were allowed.

That had changed dramatically by 2009 when I joined the Senate. Use of the filibuster had become routine and paralyzed both nominations and deliberation on legislation that mattered to working families, from job creation to education.

So I began conversations with colleagues about bringing back a deliberative process to allow us to take on the big challenges we face as a nation. In January 2011, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and I introduced a robust rules reform package. That fight, and more battles over rules in January 2013, set the stage for our successful vote last year to change the rules of the Senate, so a simple majority could confirm Executive Branch and Judicial nominees.

This change, the first major rules change in 39 years, matters because it doubled the rate of confirmation of judges, many of whom serve in areas formerly experiencing "judicial emergencies." Moreover, it enabled many agencies to operate more effectively, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which got its first chairman and can now be the cop on the beat protecting consumers.

In the six years Lyndon Johnson was Majority Leader in the 1950s, he dealt with only one filibuster. But with Mitch McConnell leading the Republicans, they've used the filibuster more than 500 times – to block equal pay legislation, the American Jobs Act, and even an increase in the minimum wage.

The Senate needs to do its job -- debating and voting on the issues facing our country. I'll continue to advocate for rules changes that allow the Senate to be more responsive to the needs of the people.

Wehby's response:

Senator Merkley's support of vote 242 is a perfect example of what is wrong with Washington. Instead of focusing on solutions and working together with those in both parties, the Senator's response is to simply discourage bipartisanship.

Oregon has a long history of electing proven leaders who know how to work with those they don't agree with 100 percent of the time. Oregonians want to send a leader to Washington – not the follower that Senator Merkley has been over the past six years.

I would have voted no because this rules change discouraged bipartisanship and encouraged extremism in Washington.